Data storage objects such as diskettes and videotapes require labels with information about the content of the data storage object. While data storage objects can be reused, labels generally are not reused. Removal of a label from a data storage object can be difficult. Scrapers, knives and other tools may be used to try to remove a label. One product used to remove labels is a commercially available kit, with a solution applied to dissolve the glue. Another commercially available product known as LABEL IT, contains a label holder designed to be attached to a computer diskette, and to hold cards with information about the diskette.
Because data in data storage objects can be repeatedly updated or added to, the label information must be updated. Because the useful life of the data storage object typically exceeds the available writing surface of one label, it is desirable to be able to easily remove and replace labels. As the ease of relabeling increases, the value of data storage objects is increased, because reuse of the data storage object is promoted.
Customarily, labels for data storage objects are fully coated with an adhesive material. Furthermore, the adhesive materials are normally classified as permanent-type adhesives or removable adhesives. When a label is fully coated with a permanent-type adhesive, and is applied to a product, it normally cannot be removed without damaging either the label or the product upon which it is mounted. On the other hand, a label having a removable adhesive material can often be removed and reapplied.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,837 pertains to a removable adhesive sheet comprising an adhesive composition with what are called elastic micro-balls. U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,152 pertains to a redetachable sheetlike structure with callotte-shaped bonding sites up to 600 microns in diameter. Commercially available label material with removable properties, such as the properties described in the above two patents, have resulted in labels that are easier to remove from data storage objects than earlier labels, which often had a continuous coating of a permanent adhesive.
These type of labels and current computer disketee labels characterized as removable labels have several problems. First, because the diskette houses a sensitive magnetic surface, it is preferable to avoid or minimize bending the diskette. However, to provide for permanent labeling, the adhesive used for labels is typically strong enough to result in bending the diskette when the label is removed, and/or to require the user to peel slowly to minimize bending. Second, materials used to minimize tearing of the label tend not to readily receive writing from some kinds of pencils or pens. Third, because the adhesive coating is continuous, it is often necessary to pick at an edge to get the removal of the label started. This can also result in bending the diskette, or compressing the diskette into the inside magnetic surface. Fourth, as a label ages the adhesive strength of the bond usually changes. For labels with continuous coatings of adhesive, increases in bond strength over time can make label removal significantly more difficult. When adhesive material is such that bond strength decreases, labels can, over time, spontaneously separate from data storage objects.
Another problem with current labels for data storage objects is the lack of an easy identification method to record the date of first use of each specific data storage object. Generally, over time, the strength of the magnetic field of the material used to store the data can deteriorate, even if the data storage object is stored securely. To maintain a high level of certainty regarding the reliability of data stored in a data storage object, it is desirable to permanently preserve on a data storage object the date when the object went into service. Clearly, there is a need for a label which allows the user to permanently record on the label the date the object first went into use.
Because uses of data storage objects vary, and the desirable attributes of a label vary accordingly, it is very difficult for a single label design to optimize all label attributes most important for every type of use of data storage objects. When it is known the object will be relabeled within a short time, or after handling the object only a few times, convenience of removablilty becomes more important, and durability of the label becomes less important. By contrast, when it is known the object will be handled many times, or that the label will remain on for a long period of time, durability of the label is the first priority.
Although the ideal requirements of a label vary according to the use of the label, the approach taken by manufacturers of data storage objects and labels has been the production of what could be called all-purpose labels. This is understandable due to issues of economy and simplicity. However, the resulting labels appear to represent a compromise between removability and permanence. If specialty labels which are designed for use with data storage objects are available, the use of data storage objects may be increased and extended when the user can select specific labels for specific purposes. As an example, people may use diskettes more frequently to exchange data when they can use a specialty label to label the diskette once, and when the recipient can then easily remove the label and put the disk to further use.